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Great Debaters

4/29/13
English 102.008
The Great DebatersIn reviewing the film “The Great Debaters” I found it to be captivating and the elements of the movie made it very relatable to the viewers. With this being a true story I found that it was very easy for me to understand that these young kids really wanted to find themselves and a voice in the process. I found that this film was an earnest drama about the search for self-esteem and sense of responsibility among young black people that successfully relies and reflects upon its audience. In my opinion, I feel that all young teens who are being raised in an urban environment should watch this movie. I believe that this film teaches students not to give up because equality and justice is worth fighting for.

The events in this film take place in Texas during the 1930s, where racial injustice was an everyday part of life. This is also relevant because the Wiley College, for over 130 years, has served African Americans and other minorities, much as the HBCU’s of our time. During these times the students had to face awful Jim Crow laws and were pushed for the better by their professor to take responsibility for their own future. This is relevant to today because, though we don’t have Jim Crow laws, racism and stereotypes are very much part of our everyday life. Students today need professors like Professor Tolson to push them with his power of words to be more than what they imagined and to actually make a difference.

The audience in my opinion is primarily for African American students who attend an HBCU type college or institution. I say this because this film is focused around young black kids who have to deal with the struggle against racial oppression. This movie would give an insight to young adults who can relate and have been through the same situations. The Great Debaters gives a really good depiction and staying true to the actual events that occurred. This movie shows that with words, power is given. It...

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...THE GREATDEBATERS The GreatDebaters (2007) - IMDb chronicles the journey of Professor Melvin Tolson (Denzel Washington), a brilliant but volatile debate team coach who uses the power of words to shape a group of underdog students from a small African American college in the Deep South into a historically elite debate team.
Summery Plot: Marshall, Texas, described by James Farmer, Jr. as "the last city to surrender after the Civil War," is home to Wiley College, where, in 1935-36, inspired by the Harlem Renaissance and his clandestine work as a union organizer, Professor Melvin Tolson coaches the debate team to a nearly-undefeated season that sees the first debate between U.S. students from white and Negro colleges and ends with an invitation to face Harvard University's national champions. The team of four, which includes a female student and a very young James Farmer, is tested in a crucible heated by Jim Crow, sexism, a lynch mob, an arrest and near riot, a love affair, jealousy, and a national radio audience.
Review: "The GreatDebaters" is a very fine film. It reminds me of what it means to be excellent, to stand for something good, to love, and to shine. The performances, or the cinematography, historical care, or directorship all lift it out of the ordinary. And in its difficult subject: racial tension and the education and discovery of values by the three young...

...“The GreatDebaters”
The Credits:
This motion film is called “The GreatDebaters.” The movie which was released in 2007 is based on a true story but does not trumpet that fact in an opening caption, takes place on the campus of Wiley College during 1935. The movie is Directed by Denzel Washington and Produced by
Todd Black, Kate Forte, Oprah Winfrey and Joe Roth. This film was inspired by the American Legacy article by Tony Scherman. Molly Allen Co-Produced the movies and the Executive Producers are Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein and David Crockett. Philippe Rousselot, afc/asc is the Director of Photography and David J. Bomba is the Production Designer. The movie was Edited by Hughes Winborne, a.c.e. The Cast of this film Denzel Washington as Melvin B. Tolson, Nate Parker as Henry Lowe, Jurnee Smollett plays the role of Samantha Booke, Denzel Whitaker is the young James Farmer Jr., while Forest Whitaker plays the role Dr. James Farmer Sr., John Heard plays Sheriff Dozier, and Kimberly Elise is the Pearl Farmer. This Film Genre is a Drama.
Denzel Washington
Summary:
In America today, we read and see so many unjust acts and even laws pass that seem so unfair to the minority groups. This could be related to the thesis of the GreatDebaters, a film that is affirming and inspiring, and re-creates the stories of a remarkable team and its coach. It takes place on the campus of...

...
The GreatDebaters offers a fictionalized and limited account of the exploits of the award-winning Wiley College debate team headed by Melvin B. Tolson, an African-American English professor, during the Depression years. Beyond his academic duties, Tolson was an accomplished poet, journalist and social activist.
Before this film was produced, very little was generally known about Wiley, a small college with only 400 students, or its debating team. The team had a remarkable record, going 10 straight years without a loss from 1929 to 1939. What’s more, the team’s opponents included much larger black universities, including Fisk, Morehouse, Virginia Union, Lincoln, Wilberforce and Howard.
Tolson’s debaters became so well known that they were invited to participate in the first interracial debate ever permitted. The contest, which took place in Oklahoma City in 1930, pitted Wiley College against the University of Oklahoma. Five years later, before an audience of 1,100, Tolson’s team won the national championship in a debate with the reigning champions from the University of Southern California. (In a seemingly unnecessary substitution, the film has a group from Harvard University as the opposing team for this historic event.)
Founded in 1873, Wiley College is one of the oldest black colleges west of the Mississippi River. It was established by the Freedman’s Bureau in the period called “Reconstruction” during the immediate...

...The GreatDebaters is an inspiring true story of the Debate Team consisting of four students and their professor from Wiley College, in Marshall, Texas. As an all black school, Wiley College during the 1930’s trained young minds to believe in themselves and to use their educated minds to change the hearts and minds of society, to establish peace, and maintain human dignity, tolerance and acceptance for all people, no matter the color of their skin, origin of their birth, language they speak, or their occupational role in society. For all men are created equal.
The story of The GreatDebaters takes place at a time in America’s history when things were starting to change for both Whites and African Americans. The moral call for freedom, equality, and justice for all was beginning to resonate throughout the country. As the movie opens, Dr. James Farmer (Forest Whitaker) one of the ﬁrst black men to earn a Ph.D. He declares, “The most important job in America is the education of our young people.” Farmer tells an audience at Wiley College, in Marshall, Texas, that, “There will be difﬁculties. But we must defeat them.” He challenges his listeners, “They must do what they have to do in order to do what they want to do.” The film encourages the idea that “Education is the way out of ignorance and darkness into the glorious light.”
The students, James Farmer, Jr who was only 14 years old, Henry Lowe, and Samantha...

...is “The GreatDebaters”. The director is Denzel Washington. The writing credits are Robert Eisele (screen play), Jeffrey Pora and Tony Scherman. The main stars of the movie are Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker, Nate Parker, Jurnee Smollett, Denzel Whitaker, John Heard, and Kimberly Elise. The length of the movie is 124 minutes. The audio of the movie is Dolby Digital 5.1. The video of this movie is Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1. The One part of the movie is about the relationship between teacher and students. It is quite attractive and interesting. The statement of the relationship between teacher and students reflects on the teacher’s teaching way, communicating with the students, kindness on the students and keeping the right way of the students.
The director attempted to portray the theme by basing on the real story of Melvin B. Tolson, a professor at Wiley College Texas. He desired students to arrange the first team of debate in school in 1935 that continued to arrange the first team of debate in school in 1935 that continued to challenge Harvard University in the national championship. Melvin B. Tolson (WashingTon) is a teacher and his students are James Farmer, Jr. (Denzel Whitaker), Henry Lowe (Nate Parker), and Samantha Brooke (Jurne Smollet). He trains his student to become the greatdebaters. He tried to get an invitation from Harvard so they spent a lot of afford on the debate. Sometimes, they have...

...﻿The GreatDebaters
Credits:
The movie “The GreatDebaters” came in 2007, it is a historical drama movie. It`s directed and produced by Denzel Washington (who also play one of the main character) and Oprah Winfrey. The main actors are Denzel Washington (teacher Tolson), Nate Parker (Henry Lowe), Jurnee Smollett-Bell (Samantha Booke), Denzel Whitaker (James Farmer Jr.), Jermaine Williams (Hamilton Burgess) and Forest Whitaker (Dr. James Farmer Sr.).
Plot:
Place and time for the movie is 1935 in Marshall, Texas. Background of the story is about difference about black and white in 1935. It is about a teacher who has a debate group, before the black people debate together and white people debate together. Teacher Tolson take out Henry Lowe, James Farmer Jr., Hamilton Burgess and Samantha Booke. All of them have very strong meanings in this movie. This movie shows us how the black people stand against the traditions of the difference between white and black. Genre of the movie is drama and historical.
Characters:
Main characters in the movie are Melvin B. Tolson who is a teacher, Henry Lowe, Samantha Booke and James Farmer Jr. as students.
Vocabulary:
The vocabulary in this movie is based from 1935, so they have an older language and dialect since it in Marshall, Texas. It`s still very easy to understand what they mean/talk.
My opinion:
My opinion is that this is a great movie, because I...

...The GreatDebaters”, a movie drama based on the true story of Melvin B. Tolson a professor at Wiley College located in Marshall Texas, in 1935 he inspired the student body to form the schools 1stdebate team, which went on to challenge Harvard in the national championship. The movie has an academy award-winning cast, consisting of Denzel Washington playing the lead role of Melvin B. Tolson; Forrest Whittaker, who plays the stern father in the character of Dr. James Farmer Sr.; his son, a debate team member played by Denzel Whittaker; the only female debater, played by actress Jurnee Smollete and Nate Parker who plays the young ‘fire in the belly’, Henry Lowe. Together these actors and actresses paint an inspiring story of a truly difficult era for not only African Americans, but for all seeking civil rights.
In the movie and throughout this story, we can identify several examples of good arguments and bad arguments, or good thinking and bad thinking. The following logical fallacies were identified; attack of a person, the argument from authority, the argument from tradition, appeal to force, as well as popular appeal. The first logical fallacy I would like to key in on is popular appeal. I believe this was demonstrated when Melvin B. Tolson was attempting to form a union with the sharecroppers, he tried to convey the message that bonding together their voice would become stronger than the individual sharecroppers all pleading...

...In the inspirational film The GreatDebaters, Denzel Washington played a college professor, who established a debate team. The team consisted of four African American students all who studied at Wiley College, where Tolson worked. Professor Tolson’s role in the film was significant and he made a positive impact on each characters life in the film. Of all characters the bond between Ms. Samantha Booke, one of the debaters resonated with me. Professor Tolson did many things to change lives’. Being that his attitude was positive and urged the importance of the power of words, being book smart and colored. He created an unstoppable debate team throughout the film you watch the teams trials and tribulations.
Tolsons’ character was significant because he pushed everyone in the film for the better. His character was controversial because he had different political views from the social mores of the times. He challenged the Jim Crow laws and wanted to help the farmers secretly to become in the union. He wasn’t always praised for being a confederate in the film. Tolsons personality was strong and he strived for his students to be extremely intelligent being that they were colored. He motivated all students and didn’t let the Jim Crow Laws stop him from learning, or alter his success of himself and his students. He made sure his team debated the social mores of the times as well. Being African American speaking about our own kind.
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